CMU men's basketball shows out in win over Central State
With 12 minutes still left to play in the first half, Central Michigan men's basketball found itself trailing Central State 11-14 on Wednesday. Then, CMU guard Anthony Pritchard raced up the court to catch CSU off guard with a quick tempo change.
Pritchard kicked out to an unguarded Damarion Bonds who drilled a three to even the score at 14. A quick defensive stop gave the ball right back to Bonds who drilled another three in the face of his defender, giving the Chippewas a 17-14 lead.
After the momentum change following the back-to-back threes from Bonds, Central Michigan never slowed down, finishing with an 86-52 win over the Marauders.
"Every time I get a shot even if I miss, I'm just going to keep shooting," Bonds said. "It's just confidence, I knew it was going to go in."
With the win, CMU advances to 3-2 on the season.
"We've got a chance to have a really good team," head coach Tony Barbee said. "Right now we're in the process of becoming that."
The game tipped off with CMU forward Ugnius Jarusevicius knocking down the opening points. But the Chippewa offense failed to find the basket on each of their next six shots, digging themselves into an early hole as Central State took an early 9-2 lead.
Pritchard lobbed a pass from behind the arc intended for guard Jakobi Heady, but the pass unexpectedly fell into the basket before he could get to it, gifting the Chippewas three points to stop the 9-0 run from the Marauders.
The teams traded points for a few possessions before back-to-back threes from Bonds gave Central Michigan the lead.
The Chippewas rode the momentum for the rest of the half, refusing to give Central State a window back into the game. They went on to outscore the Marauders 24-11 the rest of the half, giving Central Michigan a commanding 41-25 lead going into half time.
"We want to get a majority of our offense off of our defense," Barbee said. "Our defense was terrific today."
The second half began with both teams feeling each other out and trading baskets before the Chippewa offense exploded, going on a 12-0 run. A Quentin Heady layup made the score 67-31 in favor of CMU, marking his first basket of the season.
Pritchard, who led the team in scoring with 18 points, was electric from beyond the arc in the second half, shooting a perfect 4-for-4 from the three point line and 7-for-12 from the field.
With nine minutes remaining, Central Michigan comfortably pulled away, leading 70-36, allowing new faces to see playing time.
As the student section shouts his name with 7:52 left to play in the game, redshirt freshman Drew Barbee recorded his first collegiate point after a made free throw. Drew also later recorded his first field goal, scoring the final points for the Chippewas to close out the game 86-52.
"I'm proud," Coach Barbee said. "It's fun having him around, especially knowing that he wants to be a coach one day."
The win tonight came despite the injury problem that has plagued CMU so far this season. With an injury in last weeks game against George Mason, starter Hunter Harding missed the contest. The injury issue claimed another in the game as Jarusevicius exited game early with an undisclosed injury.
"We've got 21 feet of street clothes between Hunter, Mo, Armani and now you add Uggy (Ugnius) to the list, he got banged up today and couldn't come back to the game," Barbee said. "Hopefully we get some of these guys back and healthy."
Central Michigan basketball has five days of rest before it heads back on the road to Minneapolis, where it will take on Minnesota at 8 p.m. on Monday.
